NEW DELHI: Former Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is likely to be questioned by the CBI by Tuesday, even as Kapil Sibal Monday assumed the charge of the union law ministry, taking over from Ashwani Kumar who resigned last week after he came under attack in the Supreme Court for vetting the CBI report on the allocation of coal blocks.
According CBI sources said some railway board members are likely to be examined. Sources added that Bansal would be confronted with transcripts of conversations between his nephew Vijay Singla and Mahesh Kumar, the main characters in the bribery scandal.
There has been suspense on Bansal’s interrogation for the past few days but sources said that “they want to be clear about the appointment/promotion process” in the railway board by examining some railway officers before calling the former minister.
It was found during investigations that Singla and Sandeep Goyal had promised Mahesh Kumar the job of member (electrical) and Bansal had also reportedly given an assurance to Kumar.
CBI officials said they would corroborate interrogation details of arrested persons with the meetings that took place in the railway ministry and at Bansal’s residence, along with the recorded conversations.
The agency has sent intercepted phone conversations to Central Forensic Science Laboratory to identify the voices of suspects in the Rs 10 crore bribery scandal which saw Bansal’s resignation.
Sources said they have asked CFSL to identify the persons who are part of conversations intercepted by the agency in its surveillance project spanning over two months in which over 1,000 phone calls were tapped.
Meanwhile, Sibal will hold additional charge of law along with the communications and information technology ministry.
“I am thankful to prime minister (Manmohan Singh) and Congress chief (Sonia Gandhi) for assigning me this job,” Sibal told reporters here. (Agencies)